A snapshot of the past month (or so)...

I've got a fair hunk of a catch up post here - a lot of pictures in it, my favourite type of post!  Some of the photos are ones that I took trying some new things. (I think I've worked out bracketing on my camera - now to try to use it to create some HDR images.)  Others are just to document events.  I'm finding that I'm so much more comfortable with my camera now, but I do still need to try to remember to think about all the different settings when I'm taking photos.  I can get too caught up in the capture, and forget that my ISO (for example) is too high or too low, and should be changed!  Oh well, I'm still learning.

Some pictures from the last month or so:

Bits and pieces from our trip to Rocky to see my parents, and out west to see John's parents:

Who could resist those faces?

And some animals of a different kind (taken through the windscreen as we were driving to John's parents):

Can you see them all? Just waiting for us...

And some more enjoyable scenery from the trip:

The current topic for the photo club challenge is 'full moon'.  I've tried a few different ways of capturing the moon, with most of them not really turning out how I'd planned! This is one of the more successful shots that I got, and I've got plans to get some more at the next full moon:

I've been working on a fair bit of Christmassy-goodness.  I can't really show most of them yet, but here's some sneak peeks:

And my little craft room buddy, keeping herself busy with some ribbon:

On the back of my chair is one of her favourite places to be, funnily enough.

Oh, and something very exciting: a surprise that is yet to be found out about by some important people (who will find out soon)!

I've taken to sewing and crafting a fair bit lately.  I've needed a pincushion for ages - I've been using this horrible magnetic thing that I got for free from Spotlight during one of their demonstrations.  I've taken inspiration from these:

(http://lovetocrochetandknit.blogspot.com/

http://memoriesandcreations.blogspot.com/

http://www.imaginefabric.com/

http://www.imaginefabric.com/

To make this (horribly sub-standard):

I was just playing around to see how it would work, and whether my left over bits of wadding would work as a filler.  I've discovered that it will work, but that my handstitching (to close it up after turning it the right way around) needs some work, and that left over wadding probably isn't the best filling!  So I bought some poly fill and will try again after Christmas.  I also made this little one out of fel to stick to my sewing machine for placing pins in during sewing:

Absolutely nothing special, but functional.  It was this one that got me thinking that I could make a 'nicer' pin cushion after whipping it up out of felt and wadding scraps.  This one might be replaced by a nicer one too...

With all the sewing I've been doing, I'm starting to accumulate a nice little fabric stash.  So when I came across these photos, I've put the thought away for future reference.  How lovely does it look!

http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/

http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/

I've also taken inspiration from these lovely items:

http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/

all from

http://memoriesandcreations.blogspot.com/

http://www.lovelydesign.com/

I've bought some material to make a Christmas wall hanging, after seeing this one.  It won't be anything like it though (I'm thinking much much simpler)! I've also got some things to make an advent calendar (the little felt squares in my Christmas collage above will become part of that), so my aim is to have them complete for next Christmas!

I also saw some gift tags by Ali Edwards and Cathy Zielske, and decided that I could do them myself rather than buying them! So I did.  I used photoshop and made these:

 

 

I printed them out on my inkjet printer (just onto plain cardboard) and used my nestabilities scallop die cut in my cuttlebug machine to cut them all out, and they look really great!  (You can sort of see them on one of the photos in the Christmas collage above.)  If by some miracle anybody is interested in them, just leave me a comment and I'll post the full size (A4) version here so you can download it.

I think that about brings me to the present day (well, everything that I can show anyway).  Only 3 more sleeps until Christmas, and my work Christmas party is on tonight.

I may or may not post here again before Christmas, so I hope you have a good one!

Long time, no post!

Well, I've certainly been very slack lately, and I'm itching to post some of the things that I've been working on. There is so much to update on and sooooo many pictures on my camera to download and post too!

I'll start with the November round-up (although very belated):

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Books
• Robert Muchamore – ‘The General’, ‘Mad Dogs’, ‘The Sleepwalker’ (all books from the ‘Cherub’ series, really meant for teenagers, but a fantastic series!)
Magazines
• ‘Australian Photography’ July, August, September Issue

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Movies
• None that I can remember

Favourite TV shows
• Survivor – Tocantins (this series started and finished this month – an intensive Survivor month!)
• The Amazing Race
• Border Security

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
• The Creative Shots Christmas break-up meeting
• The Northern Engineering Conference and associated outings
• The Get Scrapped Getaway!
• Four days in Rocky/Baralaba to visit my parents in their new house and see John’s family
• Family bbq at Mum and Dad’s

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
• A housewarming present for Mum and Dad – a canvas print of a photo of the family taken at a recent (well, June) photo shoot
• Nothing else that I can remember – a quiet month as far as birthdays go

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
• Again, nothing that I can remember – serves me right for leaving the round-up so long after the end of the month!
• Oh, some Christmas fabric in preparation for some Christmas crafting

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
• -

What were my accomplishments this month?
• Won a macro photography book at the photo club Christmas break-up meeting. Well, ‘won’ is a relative term – I was the only entrant in that particular competition!
• Staged a successful Get Scrapped Getaway (and the accompanying 55 pages that go with it).
• November was so long ago that I can’t really remember anything else!

What were my disappointments this month?
• I wanted to make my Christmas cards well in advance so that I could send them out in December – not accomplished.
• Our house in Melbourne that we’re currently building is STILL not finished.

Anything else noteworthy to include?
• Finalised the booking for our overseas trip next year! It’s a reality now!
• Started work on my ‘Me: The Abridged Version’ scrapbooking album (a class with Cathy Zielske has inspired me in this one).
• Mum and Dad moved into their new house!
• Began working on my travel journal for our overseas trip next year!

Things to aim for next month? (Most of these are carried over from last month…)
• Replenish my ‘stock’ card supply with some effective but simple cards that I can have on hand to send when I need (or just want) to.
• Begin and complete my Christmas card making.
• Declutter the laundry and my scrapbooking room cupboard to make more storage space.
• Begin and complete my Christmas shopping (of course, next (this) month being December this is sort of imperative).
• Either join a gym again or go for at least a half hour walk most afternoons.
• Get the business books up to date.
• Continue to work on John’s around the world trip album (from where he went on the trip before we event met, but I’m making a very simple album for him with his photos and little tidbits of journaling). The album is very very simple, using only cardstock and photos, and generally stamping or computer printing for the titles. Each country/region has its own colour groups (ie France is blues/grays, Scotland is greens/white, Italy is terracotta type colours, USA is red/white/blue etc). I have all the photos printed (and have had for probably two years now) and the cardstock is bought and sorted, but I’ve only finished about 8 pages (and there’s likely to be probably 40 when finished).
• Make some Christmas do-dads!

Although I would have loved to include some photos with this post, I just want to get some of this down so that it's done.  I'll be back with some photos and more interesting things soon!

The recent GSG

I know that it's been such a long time since I posted, but things have been quite busy lately, including our recent GSG!

Some of the first posts I ever did on this blog was of the pages that we had recently done at a weekend of scrapping, that we like to call the Get Scrapped Getaway.  Contrary to how it sounds, we don't actually 'get away' at all - it's just a weekend of scrapping put together by myself and Fiona that supplies kits of supplies needed to complete the selected pages.  All the attendees (my mum, auntie and sister) have to bring is their photos (and tools, etc).

I do try to take note of any pages that I see on the internet and use as inspiration for these pages, but sometimes the information just isn't retained! (The weekend is only an informal gathering of my family and Fiona, so there is no profit or anything made from it.) Here are the pages that I completed this time:

Inspired by Nicole Southworth:

Inspired by Kelly Goree:

Inspired by Piradee Talvanna:

Inspired by 'others':

A set of five 'quick' layouts:

All in all, it was a great weekend, and we all managed to finish a LOT of pages! I really love all of the pages that we did, and we're already talking about the next weekend that we do! My sewing machine finally got a workout, and there were no dramas!  I have such a fantastic time with everyone, and the Saturday is always topped off with a bbq at Auntie Karen and Uncle Gary's house which such a bundle of laughs.

I'll try not to leave it so long in between posts, as I've got a couple of other pages that I've done that I want to share. I've also got some absolutely gorgeous photos that I've taken lately, which I'll post about later.

Monthly roundup - October

I saw this idea on Katie the Scrapbook Lady and thought I'd give it a go.  I plan to do this each month, but who knows!

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Books
• Tess Gerritsen – ‘Keeping the Dead’
• Steig Larsson – ‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest'
• Stephenie Meyer – ‘Twilight’, ‘New Moon’, ‘Eclipse’, ‘Breaking Dawn’
• Michael Connolly – ‘The Brass Verdict’

Magazines
• ‘Australian Property Investor’ September Issue
• ‘Digital SLR Cameras’ September Issue

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Movies
• Twlight (DVD)
• Déjà vu (TV movie)

Favourite TV shows
• Packed to the Rafters
• All Saints (which had its last episode EVER this month)
• Survivor – Gabon (this series finished this month)
• Celebrity Masterchef

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
• Numerous photography outings – none quite as successful as I would have liked (went in search of the kite surfers to no avail)
• Nanny visiting Mackay staying with Auntie Karen – BBQ dinner and breakfast outing with family
• Neighbourhood BBQ for neighbour’s (Linda) 60th birthday (I made caramel tarts, ice cream bars, mini quiches)
• Dinner at Hogs Breath for my birthday

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
• Contributed towards Linda’s ‘pandora’ bracelet for her 60th
• It was my 24th birthday! Received:
   My new Nikon D90 dSLR camera (and accessories) from John (in September)
   Elna sewing machine (using money from John’s Nanna and my parents)
   Wii Fit from John
• Tupperware container set, jewellery set, scratchies, lotto ticket, new Wii game (Sonic & Mario at the Winter Olympics) and casual bracelet from close family

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
• My sewing machine (as my birthday money didn’t fully cover the cost)
• Some new socks (perhaps not worthy of noting, but they’re so pretty and I desperately needed new ones to wear in my workboots)
• A fabric ‘yo-yo’ maker

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
• My gym membership finished last month, and I haven’t yet joined another gym. I have walked home (or most of the way at least, normally a good 6km or so) numerous times. I need to join another gym or set a serious walking/riding/stretching fitness schedule that I need to commit to. (Because magpie season is in full swing, I’ve been too chicken to walk home for the last two weeks!)

What were my accomplishments this month?
• Won a second place prize and a first place prize at the monthly photo club meeting. The photo that won second place is really one of my favourite photos and editing that I’ve done so far.
• Started to get a little organised with my digital life (on my external hard drive). With my original photos, the edited photos, the photos I want to edit, the photos I want to print and the photos I have printed, I’m finding my photography folder getting very confusing and out of sorts. I spent a little bit of time fixing it up and I think I’m happy with where it’s at now. Next stop: trying to get our hard drive at home and my external hard drive somewhat ‘synced’.
• Completed organising my scrapbook albums. I bought a number of new albums over the last few months (mainly American Crafts d-ring albums) with thoughts of replacing my old old old albums that are falling apart, and also creating some new ones so that the albums have the themes that I want. I now have a full chronological set (2004 through to 2009, generally two albums a year), a ‘childhood’ album, ‘high school’ album, ‘dancing’ album and ‘random’ album (for pictures of Mum and Dad growing up, for example).

What were my disappointments this month?
• I haven’t kept on top of the housework as much as I would have liked. I have a tendency to leave ‘stuff’ around for a day or two instead of just putting it away straight away! I also need to declutter the laundry to make some space for some boxes of my old stuff that Mum and Dad have brought up.
• Our house in Melbourne that we’re currently building is still not finished, despite having receiving the final progress claim in August! Needless to say we haven’t paid that yet, as the house actually isn’t finished, and the quality of some of the work leaves a bit to be desired. Hopefully after so many emails and phone calls that I couldn’t even count them, it won’t be long until we’re satisfied and we can finally finish our dealings with this builder.

Anything else noteworthy to include?
• Did numerous scrapbooking pages (probably over 10 when I count them) which I haven’t done for a long time.
• Began organising for the next GSG.
• Began the organisation and booking for our overseas trip next year (a good 8+ weeks worth or travelling, something that I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do, and now we’re finally getting to do it).
• Ellie (my 21 year old Ford Laser) became operational again, thanks to John’s dad getting it going initially in July, and a new battery being put in this month. I’ve been driving her to and from work regularly and she’s running quite well.
• Mum and Dad signed a contract for a new house!

Things to aim for next month?
• Replenish my ‘stock’ card supply with some effective but simple cards that I can have on hand to send when I need (or just want) to.
• Begin and complete my Christmas card making.
• Declutter the laundry and my scrapbooking room cupboard to make more storage space.
• Come up with a list of Christmas presents for family and friends.
• Either join a gym again or go for at least a half hour walk most afternoons.
• Get the business books up to date.
• Finish my half-finished scrapbook pages (I think there’s only one of Roxy from the last GSG).
• Continue to work on John’s around the world trip album (from where he went on the trip before we event met, but I’m making a very simple album for him with his photos and little tidbits of journaling). The album is very very simple, using only cardstock and photos, and generally stamping or computer printing for the titles. Each country/region has its own colour groups (ie France is blues/grays, Scotland is greens/white, Italy is terracotta type colours, USA is red/white/blue etc). I have all the photos printed (and have had for probably two years now) and the cardstock is bought and sorted, but I’ve only finished about 8 pages (and there’s likely to be probably 40 when finished).
• Start thinking about my travel journal that I want to put together for when we go on our trip!

A just a random photo to finish with.  This is from about 1999 I think, a cabaret group 'Austin Powers'.  I've edited it a bit just to try to make it a bit clearer, but nothing special.  (I'm the bottom left.)
 

Is it Wednesday already?

Gosh, it's been over a week since I last posted, but it really doesn't seem like it!  When I think about it though, it does sort of seem like it's been much more than two weeks since my birthday!  Time flies and all that...

I'm disappointed to report that I really haven't used my sewing machine much at all since I got it - only for the obligatory test runs that night.  I've got an overwhelming urge to sew something, but I don't know what!!  My work pants need some mending in the back seam, where there's two seams and one of them is unravelling.  I think that will be my first 'real' sewing on my machine!

I've found some really cool things on the Write.Click.Scrapbook. site over the past few days:

Love this idea, which I assume is taking out the back of this frame completely and either decorating the glass itself, or using transparency?  Hmmm, need to think about that one.

Really like this idea of inserting fabric in an embroidery hoop, especially for a baby room like it's shown here.  Nice and easy and cheap to change out to alter the style of a room too.

I stayed up so late last night (after 12.30!) to watch the final few shows of 'Survivor' - I'm addicted to that show, and have been to nearly each season since the very first one.  I'm a hopeless TV addict, and am so so sad that All Saints is now finished forever.  What will my Tuesday nights be like without All Saints?  At least I've got Packed to the Rafters now...

Another old layout to finish with, completed probably 3 years ago now:

This was a page that we did at one of our first 'Get Scrapped Getaways' that Fiona and I hold for some friends and family about twice a year.  It really is a time that I so look forward to, as my Mum and sister normally come up for it, and we spend the whole weekend scrapping together with my Auntie, and obviously Fiona too.  Fiona and I spend a bit of time beforehand working out the pages to do and getting everyone's full 'kit' together so that they just bring their photos and tools and everything else is here and waiting!  I love the organisation leading up to the weekend - spending everyone elses' money to buy scrapping supplies!  We don't actually make any money off the weekends - everyone just pays the cost of the supplies themselves.  The next one is coming up in a few weekends' time, so I better hurry up and finish the organisation.  I'll obviously post the pages that we do when it's all over.  Otherwise, you can see the pages I did at the last one here.  That reminds me, there's one pages (I think) that never quite got finished, and one page that was never photographed and posted, so I'll have to do that before I forget.

By the way, I went away for a training course for work last week and took the third Twilight book (Eclipse) with me.  I was past half way, so I thought I better bring the last one (Breaking Dawn) as well just in case.  Lucky that I did - I finished the third one just as the pilot announced that we had landed, and had to start on the last one that night!  By the time I arrived back home the next night (after reading during the lunchbreak, while waiting for the train to the go the airport, on the train, at the airport waiting for the plane and on the plane) I was over halfway through the last one and I finished it the next day.  I do wish that I hadn't read so quickly now, as there's no more!  I so thoroughly enjoyed the series, despite my scepticism, but don't know if I'll be starting any more vampire series any time soon.  Moving on to a couple of my 'normal' crime fiction that I picked up cheaply at a second hand book stall at a local markets.  Michael Connolly's 'Brass Verdict' is the current one, and I quite enjoy his books for a bit of 'mindless' reading.

Gee, so much for 'another old layout to finish with' - half a novel later...

Be back with another post soon.

Recipe share - mini quiches

I've had a request from Monique to share the recipe for the mini quiches I posted a few posts ago.

Here it is: mini quiches recipe.  Enjoy!

Skater boy...

A quick update from the photo club meeting last night.  I was lucky enough to win some prizes:

1st place - For Arts Sake - 'Open Spaces'

2nd place - Enhance It - 'Got Air'

Even though I'm not really a modest person, and often I quite like my photos (especially the above!) I am always surprised when I get any places at the club meetings.  There are always so many entries and they're all of such a high quality that I have so much trouble choosing a photo to vote for.  That people would vote for my photos over some others is really nice!